Museum removes figure of George III with African men
THE bust of King George III has been removed from the National Maritime Museum’s permanent exhibition.
The mahogany carving, figurehead of the Royal Yacht “Royal George” in 1817, has been on display at the museum in Greenwich for more than a decade. It is now in storage after being deemed “inappropriate”.
It depicts King George III as a Roman emperor wearing a laurel wreath, with two kneeling African men on either side of him with their hands clasped.
Leading historians have described the decision to remove the bust an “absolute absurdity” and “astonishing”.
Sir John Hayes, chair of the Common Sense Group of backbench Tory MPs, said he would write to Olive Dowden, the Culture Secretary, to make a formal complaint about the “foolishness”.
The National Maritime Museum now has an explanatory panel where the bust used to be, which says that when the figurehead was on display it prompted “frequent criticism”.
“For many visitors and staff, its imagery of a powerful white king with two subservient black men is a hurtful reinforcement of enduring racial stereotypes,” the panel says. “Monarchs are typically portrayed as the dominant figure, with others shown in a secondary and more deferential stance. However this figurehead is often seen as celebrating the role of white people in ending slavery. Such images overshadow the determined actions and huge sacrifices of black people to achieve this goal.”
The museum said that the Black Lives Matter protests hastened its decision.
Jeremy Black, professor of history at Exeter University and biographer of King George III, said that removing the bust was an “absolute absurdity”.
“That argument could be used to denigrate just about everyone in British history if you were so minded,” he said.
“The museum, which is a national institution in receipt of public funds, needs to get a grip on its purpose of commemorating British history.”